One of the curses of being a writer is that we are too rational.

We pride ourselves on reporting the facts of a situation accurately. We love the idea of having an objective point of view, then giving our commentary or perspective. We don’t like the idea of getting carried away with our emotions. We don’t want to be irrational or have a skewed point of view.

Is being “rational” really the best way to approach life, though?

It’s hard to believe John F. Kennedy was being entirely rational when he challenged the nation to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. It’s hard to believe Michelangelo was being entirely rational when he set out to paint the Sistine Chapel. It’s hard to believe Harriet Tubman was being entirely rational when she risked her own safety to help free slaves in the days of the Underground Railroad.

None of these leaders were operating solely on what others had done before or by what other people thought was possible. They were operating by vision and an intense confidence that they could pull off something extraordinary.

Walt Disney famously said this: “Somehow I can’t believe there are many heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy, and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all over, implicitly and unquestioningly.”

Do you believe you can write? Do you believe your book can change somebody’s life? Do you believe you can create a business with your writing? Do you believe you can achieve it with enough work, time, and connections?

Whatever you’ve set out to do in your writing, you must believe it. And once you can see the vision clearly in your mind, you have now set the stage for making that vision a reality.

Daily Question: What is your vision for your writing? Do you believe you can achieve it?